Friday 12 November 2010

National Day of Mourning declared for windows of Millbank Tower

An extremist lets everyone down
In the aftermath of the student riots, and as the nation surveys in horror the wreckage of Millbank Tower, Westminster, the Prime Minister today announced that there was to be a National Day of Mourning for the lower windows of Millbank Tower. He spoke in Parliament with quiet dignity and a solemn demeanor to announce the Day of Mourning, saying that "Every shard of glass from those windows cut me to my very soul."

"We are all horrified at the loss of these windows and the vicious, mindless aggression that caused it, and this day will help people going through the different stages of grief," he went on to say. "In particular my heart goes out to the nation's journalists, who seem utterly inconsolable. It touches my heart that those who have been so stoical in the face of the cuts we have made, cuts that will result in mental health problems, family breakups, homelessness, stress, and even death, have yet dug deep within their hearts to express pain, disappointment and grief at the loss of those fine windows, once polished proudly every day by our minimum wage cleaning contractors."

The Prime Minister went on to pay tribute to Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students. "The temptation must have been so strong," he said, "To stand behind those he represents and their expression of dissatisfaction and rage. Instead he too felt deep compassion for those simple, innocent panes of glass. There goes a true man, thought I, when I saw him refuse the temptation to say that we deserved it."

At several points during the speech the Prime Minister almost gave way to his emotions, even brushing away a tear at one point as he spoke of the tenacity of journalists who "by their refusal to distinguish between violence against people and violence against property, are making a stand for the rights of windows everywhere."

The Prime Minister went on to thank all those who, while denouncing the violent demonstrators, had never once referred to his own cutbacks as violent, nor his waging of war in Afghanistan, nor his refusal to roll back the anti-terrorist laws that grant the police more power than ever before. "It is these fine distinctions in definition," he said, "And it is in the beautiful poetry of asymmetrical denunciation, that civilisation thrives. Me, I like civilisation. It's worked so well for me. So thank you."

The National Day of Mourning for Millbank's Windows will be this Tuesday, 16th of November. When asked after the speech whether people would get the day off work for the Day of Mourning the Prime Minister's spokesman quickly made it clear that this would not be the case. "We're trying to get people to work more, not less," he said. "Just mourn in your hearts, okay? And get on with your work. It's what the windows would have wanted."

15 comments:

  1. "It's what the windows would have wanted." :) loveit.

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  2. Please can we actually do this?

    I think 500-1,000 people offering 2 minutes' silence for a fallen pane of glass in the Millbank Courtyard would be amazing.

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  3. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Become-a-Window/172828342742815
    We are considering becoming windows. Perhaps Concerned Liberals will then take violence against us more seriously than any we may suffer at the hands of police or structural violence that curtails our freedoms and lifespans, treats our bodies and selves as means to the enrichment of a capitalist elite, and systematically devalues, criminalises and victimises our ethnicities, classes, genders, sexualities, disabilities and beliefs

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  4. Support those arrested at the demo: http://teneleventen.wordpress.com/

    It's also worth thinking about the legal issues at this and future actions: http://autonomousstudentsnetwork.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/demo-ten-eleven-ten/ (That link has a great picture too)

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  5. everyone reading this should copy and email it to a newspaper that has run a sensationalist, slanted articles about the protest "harshly denouncing" all those involved.

    they are completely absurd, time to mock them!

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  6. Some times the only way people get a message is if it is tied to a brick and thrown through their window.

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  7. That's beautiful. Cheers to this writer for making my day. So true!

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  8. Everyone here seems to have conveniently forgotten the attempted murder of a police office that day.

    I guess the left would rather gloss over that little detail.

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  9. Firstly Mr Danger, I don't believe that attempted murder has been proved. Since it doesn't exist as a fact, it can't be forgotten - only speculated about, or not. I would rather not.

    Secondly, I'll agree that we can denounce all the protesters for that 'attempted murder' if you agree that we can, say, denounce every police officer in the country for the unpunished murders of black people in custody in the UK.

    And if you're not aware of such not-at-all-suspicious deaths at the hands of our esteemed constabulary then I suggest you get yourself some political learnin' before attempting to joust online.

    As it happens, much as I may dislike much of what the police do and much of their role in society, I don't think they are all racist murderers. I'm big like that, despite being 'left'.

    Regards

    The Defendant


    PS Left where? Left nowhere - funny how that word can still be a bogeyman to some people despite the destruction and implosion of the organised left over the last thirty years - I guess it's the menace within that will never quite be defeated.

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  10. "Since it doesn't exist as a fact, it can't be forgotten - only speculated about, or not. I would rather not."

    Great! Now the fire extinguisher which we all saw drop seven stories and land inches from a police officer has vanished in a puff of sophistry. Problem solved.

    The whole point of this post was to pretend that 'the media' is outraged about broken windows, when it is plainly obvious that they are outraged by the violence. This post whitewashes that violence. 41 police officers were injured. Does this 'exist as a fact'?

    "National Day of Mourning declared for windows". The hilarity. Oh my aching sides.

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  11. "Everyone here seems to have conveniently forgotten the attempted murder of a class traitor that day."

    FiX'D

    "Great! Now the fire extinguisher which we all saw drop seven stories and land inches from a police officer has vanished in a puff of sophistry. Problem solve"

    Did you see it? Did you really? with your own eyes or are you quoting the right wing press? The fire extinguisher did in fact land several inches away from the filth, several hundreds of inches away.

    Don't believe the hype!!!

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  12. Really liked what you wrote here. As a former student I've deep sympathies for the students and I stand by their cause as a journalist. Thanks for bringing this with such an interesting angle :)

    Moign Khawaja
    http://outernationalist.net

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  13. Shall me make te two minutes of silence in front of the MIlliband Tower? again ?

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  14. @SuzyQ: I can kinda see how you might get their attention, but how do you know they'll 'get the point'? I think the bogey men have more bricks too...not that I think bricks shouldn't be thrown at them ;)

    @The Defendent: While our esteemed Mr Danger may find it helpful to be pointed out for factual inaccuracies of his beliefs, on what basis do you presume to see fit what kind of learning one ought to have? As to all this left talk, are you a communist? I thought we dashed that spot of bother two decades ago.

    I'd also like to add, that if we're all windows, I'd like to be triple glazing please.

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  15. @All

    The guy who dropped the fire extinguisher has been blamed by all the left as an "ignorant idiot". I spent a lot of time reading some of the left leaflets and nowhere I saw anybody defending this guy. Even the most hard core leftists I came across agreed that this action was not appropriate at all.

    Stop reproducing all the media right wing propaganda and get out in the streets to see the truth.

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